The night sky of June 24, 2025, marked a historic moment for Italy and Europe with the simultaneous launch of seven satellites from the institutional constellation IRIDE, the Italian space program funded by the PNRR and coordinated by the ESA (European Space Agency) with the support of the ASI (Italian Space Agency). A European first made possible by the industrial excellence of Argotec, the Turin-based company founded and led by David Avino, a former paratrooper of the Folgore.
The launch, which took place at 11:25 PM on June 23 aboard a Falcon 9 rocket, placed seven HEO (Hawk for Earth Observation) satellites into orbit, adding to the first Pathfinder launched in January. The signal was successfully acquired by Argotec's control center in Turin, confirming the system's full operability.
A strategic project for Italy and Europe
The IRIDE constellation represents an ambitious Earth observation project, aiming to equip Italy with autonomous and high-resolution capabilities for environmental monitoring, risk management, critical infrastructure control, and national security. With a total investment exceeding one billion euros, IRIDE is the most important Italian initiative in the sector and one of the most complex in Europe.
The HEO satellites, equipped with multispectral optical sensors, will allow the acquisition of images in different bands of the visible and near-infrared, providing crucial data for natural resource management, climate change studies, and environmental disaster prevention.
David Avino: from incursion to satellite
A key figure in this achievement is David Avino, founder and CEO of Argotec, but before that a military paratrooper. An Army officer, Avino served in the Brigata Paracadutisti Folgore, an experience that shaped his strategic vision, ability to operate under pressure, and an operational approach focused on practicality and innovation.
“It is a great satisfaction to witness a new launch in such a short time,” Avino stated. “The uncertainties are always many, and multiplying them by seven satellites means multiplying the responsibility, but also the satisfaction. Today Argotec has demonstrated that our integrated production model in the SpacePark works. If every step counts, today we have taken seven. And we are ready to achieve another 25 by 2026.”
The success of Argotec is also the success of a new generation of young Italian engineers and technicians, capable of building cutting-edge satellites in record time. A winning industrial model, combining military rigor, technological innovation, and strategic vision, embodied by its founder.
Italy aims high
According to Simonetta Cheli, Director of ESA's Earth Observation Programs, “this launch represents a fundamental step for IRIDE. The data we will collect will contribute to the protection of the planet, global security, and resource management.”
In the same vein, the words of the President of ASI, Teodoro Valente, who emphasized the strategic and environmental value of the project, recalling that “our industrial chain has demonstrated competence and cohesion in meeting the deadlines imposed by the PNRR.”
A new frontier, also cultural
The IRIDE project is proof that Italy, when it believes in talent and invests in skills, can excel in a complex sector like space. And it is significant that this enterprise is led by a former military, the paratrooper Avino: an example of how skills developed in defense can find high-level civilian application.
With IRIDE, Italy not only secures a prominent position in space but also strengthens its technological sovereignty. And it does so thanks to the spirit and determination of those who, like Avino, learned to “look from above” long before the satellites.
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